The Etymologicon

The Etymologicon

$20.00

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$20.00

SKU: 9780425260791 Categories: , , , ,
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Description

This perfect gift for readers, writers, and literature majors alike unearths the quirks of the English language. For example, do you know why a mortgage is literally a “death pledge”? Why guns have girls’ names? Why “salt” is related to “soldier”? Discover the answers to all of these etymological questions and more in this fascinating book for fans of of Eats, Shoots & Leaves.

The Etymologicon is a completely unauthorized guide to the strange underpinnings of the English language. It explains how you get from “gruntled” to “disgruntled”; why you are absolutely right to believe that your meager salary barely covers “money for salt”; how the biggest chain of coffee shops in the world connects to whaling in Nantucket; and what, precisely, the Rolling Stones have to do with gardening. This witty book will awake the linguist in you and illuminate the hidden meanings behind common words and phrases, tracing their evolution through all of their surprising paths throughout history.“The stocking filler of the season…how else to describe a book that explains the connection between Dom Perignon and Mein Kampf.”–The Observer

“Crikey…this is addictive!”–The Times

“Mark Forsyth is clearly a man who knows his onions.”–Daily TelegraphMark Forsyth is a writer, journalist, proofreader, ghostwriter, and pedant. He was given a copy of the Oxford English Dictionary as a christening present and has never looked back. He is the creator of The Inky Fool, a blog about words, phrases, grammar, rhetoric, and prose.US

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Dimensions 0.8500 × 5.0700 × 7.7100 in
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gifts for readers book lovers, metaphor, etymology, REF023000, gifts for readers, for writers, gifts for book lovers, teacher gifts, foreign language, book lovers gifts, phrases, linguistics, LAN010000, gifts for teachers, dictionaries, origin of words, evolution of language, synesthesia, old english, etymology dictionary, etymology book, jokes, history, education, writing, english, guide, educational, humor, gifts for writers, college student gifts, Mythology, entertaining, trivia, connections, reference, words, clever, resource, language, grammar

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